Method of and apparatus for



July 16, 1940, w. WHITEHEAD METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR STAPILIZING YARNFiled March 2, 1959 INVENTOR William Whfieheacl BY I j H 7 TORNEYSPatented July 16, 1940 UNITED STATES IWETHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORSTAPILIZING YARN William Whitehead, Rye, N. Y.,

assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of DelawareApplication March 2, 1939, Serial No. 259,440

13 Claims. (Cl. 19--1) The present invention relates to the manufactureof textile yarns and relates more particularly to the production fromcontinuous filament 'yarns of yarns having the appearance of spun yarn,i. e., yarn made from staple fiber.

In the manufacture of spun yarn from artificial fibers, the usualpractice is to cut continuous artificial filaments or waste filamentsinto comparatively short lengths, for example, lengths of 1 to 2" ormore, and then subject the staple fibers produced to a series ofoperations appropriate to the length of the fiber, such operations beingsimilar to those accorded natural. fibers such as cotton or wool,including opening, carding, drawing and spinning. These operationsrepresent considerable expense in the production of such yarns, sincethey involve a relatively slow transformation of the. initial fibrousmaterial to a finished yarn.

An object of the present invention is the expeditious and economicalproduction of yarns containing the staple fibers from yarns composed ofcontinuous filaments.

Another object of this invention is the production of stapilized yarnsby bringing a filamentary yarn into intermittent contact with a movingcutting element for cutting at least some of the filaments at intervalsalong the length of the yarn.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a novel devicefor converting a yarn of continuous filaments into a staple fiber yarnwithout the necessity of cutting or breaking continuous filament yarn toshort lengths and then spinning the fibers thus produced.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will be described in thefollowing description and in the claims.

In accordance with this invention, a continuous filament yarn issubjected to the action of an abrasive cutting means between which andthe yarn there is relative rotary movement so as to break the continuityof the filaments of the 45 yarn, whereby upon being twisted theresulting yarn resembles spun fibrous yarn. The cutting operation is socarried out that at any point any one or relatively few filaments of theyarn are cut or broken, or at least some of the filaments remain uncutor unbroken, so that the continuity of the bundle as a whole ismaintained.

The cutting of the individual filaments of the yarn may be carried outina regular or irregular manner depending upon the degree of filamentcutting required and upon the characteristics of the yarn involved. Itwill be appreciated that in order to impart a uniform appearance alongthe length of the yarn, the cutting of the filaments should be carriedout in a regular manner.

Conveniently, the cutting operation is carried out during a twistingoperation performed on the yarn, and preferably in such a manner that acertain amount of twisting-in of the cut or broken filament ends occurs.

Preferably the cutting of the filaments of the yarn is efiected during atwisting operation with the abrasive cutting means arranged to engagethe yarn as it proceeds from the supply package to the take-up device,the supply package being mounted on a rotating twisting spindle.

While the present invention is particularly concerned with processingyarns of continuous synthetic filaments such as, for example, organicderivatives of cellulose and particularly cellulose acetate, it may alsobe applied to natural yarns such as silk, and also to the processing ofyarns comprising or made up from discontinuous filaments or fibers inwhich case the fibers in the yarn are cut into smaller lengths. Thepresent invention may also be used on mixed or compound yams comprisingdifferent twists, plies or origins.

Referring now to the drawing wherein the preferred embodiments ofapparatus for carrying out my invention are shown:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in section, showing one application of thedevice of my invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the showing in Figure 1,

Figures 3, 4 and 6 are views showing modified applications of my device,and

Figure 5 is .a view taken along line 5-5 in Figure 4 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several viewsof the drawing.

In Figure 1, wherein is shown my invention as applied to a ring spinningframe, reference numeral 1 indicates a ring rail on which is mounted aring 8 around which rotates a traveller 9 in the twisting, winding andtraversing of the yarn ll, coming from any suitable supply package (notshown), on to a bobbin l2. The bobbin is mounted on a spindle I3 whichis reduced at its upper or free end to form a seat I4. An abrasive disk[5, which may comprise a hard finely serrated metal, emery or,preferably, carborundum,

' and which has an opening therein,is positioned on said seat M formovement with said spindle. Preferably the abrasive disk is adapted tobe freely rotatable relative to spindle l3 for a pur- A receive athreaded nut I! which is preferably streamlined as shown and is adaptedto retain a floating ring I8 on the reduced portion of spindle I3. Thefloating ring I8 is adapted to be freely rotatable about spindle I3. Toprevent wear upon floating ring I8 due to accidental contact withabrasive disk I5 when, for example, the yarn breaks or fails and thespindle is not stopped immediately, there is provided a disk I9 ofcardboard, wood, metal or other suitable material which rests uponabrasive disk I5.

The yarn H is delivered, from any suitable source of supply,substantially in a line with the axis of the spindle, is passed throughfloating ring I8, over the flange 2| of bobbin I2 and through traveller9 on to the bobbin I2. As the spindle rotates the yarn II comes intocontact with abrasive disk I5 with what may be termed a complex motion.This is due to the fact that the yarn II in rotating about the spindleat the speed of the traveller which is smaller than the rotation of thespindle by the amount necessary to wind the yarn on to the bobbin givesto the yarn a rotating contact with the abrasive disk I5.

Now because the floating ring I8 has a larger internal diameter than thediameter of spindle l3 it does not rotate concentrically with, thespindle, and this non-concentric rotation plus the forward friction ofthe yarn against the ring produces undulations or fluctuations ofrhythmic periodicity causing intermittent contact with the abrasivedisk. This contact with the abrasive disk cuts the filaments of whichyarn II is composed at frequent intervals giving a staple effect to theyarn. The twisting operation binds in the free ends of the cutfilaments.

As is noted above the abrasive disk I5 is preferably freely rotatablerelative to spinc ie I3 or, in other words, it is a floating abrasivedisk which is not driven by the spindle. This arrangement serves thepurpose of facilitating the starting up and cutting down the resistanceto rotation of the yarn around the bobbin. It is important to controlthe angular path of the yarn over the abrasive disk. Certaincombinations of yarn size, twist, spindle speed, ring size, travellerweight, etc., may result in a substantial variation in the angular pathof the yarn and thereby result in a variation in contact between theyarn and the abrasive disk and may even result in the yarn failing tocontact the abrasive disk. To overcome this it is preferable either toset the conditions so that the yarn is substantially in contact with theflange H of the bobbin throughout the run of the bobbin or to installabove the bobbin so that it rests on flange 2| a disk 22 which isgreater in diameter than the diameter of flange 2| and having sufllcientdiameter to maintain contact with the yarn throughout the run of thebobbin.

The abrasive disk I5 is substantially circular at a plane at rightangles to the axis of the spindle. However, it may depart from saidcircular shape but only to such an extent that the properties of processuniformity and stability will not be lost. For example, the abrasivedisk may be elliptical in shape providing that it does not cut the yarncompletely through. The actual surface contact between the yarn and theabrasive disk may be varied by providing the abrasive disk with'a sharp,blunt or sloping edge depending upon the amount of filament cutting andthe characteristics of the yarn operated upon.

The device shown in Figure 3 is also applied in connection with a ringtwisting or doubling frame.

In this modification the abrasive disk is positioned on spindle I3 bymeans of a collar 23. The yarn II on its rotation about the spindle iscaused to contact the abrasive disk by means of rings 24 These rings areaccurately positioned and 25. with respect to the abrasive disk I5 sothat the desired contact of the yarn with the abrasive disk ismaintained. The rings are locked to the main frame work of the machineand they are preferably hinged for lifting upwards during clotting ofthe bobbin.

In Figure 4, the floating abrasive disk is shown provided with amounting 26 to which are affixed small vanes or paddles 21. By-thisconstruction or arrangement the abrasive disk I5 may be caused to rotatewith or counter to the rotation .in Figure 6. In this modification thebobbin I2 is rotated at the desired speed and the yarn II is ledtherefrom to take-up bobbin 29 which is caused-to rotate at such a speedthat the required amount of twist is inserted in the yarn. The yarn isled through floating ring I8 and in contact with the abrasive disk I5and the nut I1, in a manner similar to that shown in Figure 1, on itsway to take-up bobbin 29. The path of the yarn over the abrasive disk iscontrolled by flyer 3| which has a collar 32 seated on flange 2| of thebobbin I2, which flyer is freely rotatable with respect to spindle I3and bobbin I2.

Other modifications of my invention will readily present themselves tothose skilledin the art. For example, the abrasive disk I5 of, say,Figure 1 may be mounted on a compound spindle, thatis, the spindle maybe hollow and have extending vertically therethrough another spindle.The

outer or hollow spindle may carry the bobbin while the inner spindle mayhave seated thereon the abrasive disk and carry the floating ring I8 andretaining nut I1. The two spindles may be driven at different speeds soas to increase or decrease the speed of the yarn in its rotation aroundthe spindles and in contact with the abrasive disk. This arrangement maybe further modified by causing the inner spindle to move up and down ina controlled manner so that the abrasive disk may contact with the yarnperiodically, thus producing a periodic broken filament efiect.

While I "have described the yarn as being delivered to the device of myinvention substantially in a line with the axis of the spindle, I mayfeed the yarn to the floating ring I8 at a substantial angle to the axisof the spindle. Thus, I have found that quite substantial angles, suchas an angle of 30 from the vertical, when the spindle rotates on avertical axis, may be employed without loss of running efliciency andstability. Such modification of angle increases the rhythmic movement ofthe floating ring I8 and otherwise increases the force of contactbetween the yarn II and the abrasive disk I5. Obviously, the angle ofthe yarn feeding to the spindle may be caused to vary to produce noveland varying broken filament effects.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is givenmerely by way of illustration and that many variations may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. Process for the production of stapilized yarn which comprises drawinga yarn comprising a bundle of filaments longitudinally past a rotatingcutting element and imparting to said yarn a complex motion including,in addition to its longitudinal motion, a rotating motion about the axisof said cutting element and a radial oscillating motion towards and awayfrom said axis whereby the yarn has intermittent effective contact withsaid cutting element which causes the severing of the filaments atfrequent intervals along the length of said bundle, thereby transformingat least some of the filaments of the bundle into fibers and imparting afibrous character to the yarn.

2. Process for the production of stapilized yarn which comprises drawinga yarn comprising a bundle of filaments longitudinally past a rotatingcutting element and at an acute angle to said cutting element, andimparting to said yarn a complex motion including, in addition to itslongitudinal motion, arotating motion about the axis of said cuttingelement and a radial oscillating motion towards and away from said axiswhereby the yarn has intermittent effective contact with said cuttingelement, which 'causes the severing of the filaments at frequentintervals along the length of said bundle thereby transforming at leastsome of the filaments of the bundle into fibers and imparting a fibrouscharacter to the yarn.

3. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising, incombination with a rotatable spindle, a cutting member mounted on saidspindle and means, including a ring approximately co-axial with saidspindle but free to move slightly eccentrically of the axis of saidspindle, for bringing yarn composed of a bundle of filaments intointermittent cutting contact with said cutting member whereby differentfilaments of said bundle are cut at different points along the lengththereof and a fibrous character is imparted to the yarn.

4. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising, incombination with a rotat able spindle, a cutting member mounted on saidspindle and means, including a ring mounted on said spindle andapproximately co-axial with said spindle but free to move slightlyeccentrically of the axis of said spindle, for bringing yarn composed ofa bundle of filaments into intermittent cutting contact with saidcutting member whereby different filaments of said bundle are cut atdifferent points along the length thereof and a fibrous character isimparted to the yarn.

5. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising, incombination with a rotatable spindle, a cutting member mounted on saidspindle and means, including a ring mounted on said spindle and having alarger diameter than thespindle on which it is mounted, for bringingyarn composed of a bundle of filaments into intermittent cutting contactwith said cutting member whereby different filaments of said bundle arecut at diflerent points along the length thereof and a fibrous characteris imparted to the yarn.

6. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising, incombination with a rotatable spindle,-a cutting member mounted on saidspindle, means, including a ring mounted on said spindle and having alarger diameter than the spindle on which it is mounted, for bringingyarn composed of a bundle of filaments into intermittent cutting contactwith said cutting member whereby different filaments of said bundle arecut at different points along the length thereof and a fibrous characteris imparted to the yarn and means for-retaining said ring on saidspindle. 7. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising,in combination with a rotatable spindle, an abrasive disk mounted onsaid spindle and means, including a ring mounted on said spindle andhaving a larger diameter than the spindle on which it is mounted, forbringing yarn composed of a bundle of filaments into intermittentcutting contact with said abrasive disk whereby different filaments ofsaid bundle are cut at different points along the length thereof and afibrous character is imparted to the yarn. 8. Apparatus for theproduction of stapilized yarn comprising, in combination with arotatable spindle, an abrasive disk mounted on said spindle and adaptedto be movable relative thereto and means, including a ring mounted onsaid spindle and having a larger diameter than the spindle on which itis mounted, for bringing yarn composed of abundle of filaments intointermittent cutting contact with said abrasive disk whereby i differentfilaments of said bundle are cut at different points along the lengththereof and a fibrous character is imparted to the yarn.

9. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising, incombination with a rotatable 1 spindle, an abrasive disk mounted on saidspindle, means for moving said. abrasive disk yarn comprising a rotatingcutting member,

means for drawing a yarn comprising a bundle of filaments longitudinallypast said rotating cutting member and means for imparting a complexmotion including, in addition to its longitudinal motion, a rotarymotion about the axis of said cutting member and a radial oscillatingmotion towards and away from said axis whereby the yarn has intermittenteffective contact with said cutting member so that different filamentsof said bundle are cut at different points along the length thereof anda fibrous character is imparted to the yarn.

11. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising a'rotating cutting member, means for drawing a yarn comprising a bundle offilaments longitudinally past said rotating cutting member and at anacute angle to said cutting member, and means for imparting a complexmotion including, in addition to its longitudinal motion, a rotarymotion about the axis of said cutting member and. a radial oscillatingmotion towards and away from said axis, whereby the yarn hasintermittent efiective contact with said cutting member so thatdifferent filaments of said bundle are cut at different points along thelength thereof and a fibrous character is imparted to the yarn. V

12. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising arotating abrasive disc, means for drawing a yarn comprising a bundle offilaments longitudinally past said rotating abrasive disc and means forimparting a complex motion including, in addition to its longitudinalmotion, a rotary motion about the axis of said abrasive disc and aradial oscillating motion towards and away from said axis, whereby theyarn has in- 'termittent effective contact with said abrasive disc sothat different filaments of said bundle are cut at different pointsalong the length thereof and a fibrous character is imparted to theyarn. v

13. Apparatus for the production of stapilized yarn comprising arotating abrasive disc, means for drawing a yarn comprising a bundle offilaments longitudinally'past said rotating abrasive disc and at anacute angle to said abrasive disc, and means for imparting a complexmotion in-' cluding, in addition to its longitudinal motion, a rotarymotion about the axis of said abrasive disc and a radial oscillatingmotion towards and away from said axis, whereby the yarn hasintermittent effective contact with said abrasive disc so that differentf laments of said bundle are cut at difierent points along the lengththereof and a fibrous character is imparted to the y am. I

WILLIAM WI-IITEHEAD.

